GWMS Week 6

Week 6 is complete - this rotation has flown by!  While the construction center was never "officially" opened, some students have discovered building with paper on their own. Below are some pictures of the Twin Towers:

                                                   
I especially love how the student engineered a separate base made from popsicle sticks and masking tape to keep the tower from tipping.

Week 5

Wonderful week 5!

Weavings, landscapes and portraits filled the room this week. 

Early dismissal today with 20 minute classes?  No problem - we worked on zentangles!

To learn more about zentangles, visit: zentangle.com

GWMS Week 4

Week 4 and we have lots of work to show!  The students have all of the centers open: drawing, painting, collage, printmaking and fiber.

Weaving on a cardboard loom was a big hit this week as well as sewing decorative pillows.  Here are a few photos of the students at work:

GWMS Art Studio

Week 3

The students were excited to paint with watercolors earlier this week.  They especially loved learning different techniques, such as resist and sprinkling salt on to the wet paint.

After talking about the color wheel and how to mix colors we switched to tempera paint.  They really enjoyed mixing the paint on their palette to create "new" colors.

The printmaking center was also added this week.  The students had a chance to make monoprints as well as styrofoam relief prints.

Week 2

Week 2 in GWMS Art Studio:  We created a lot of art in the drawing and collage centers!  This was exceptional, as we only had a four day week with the Labor Day Holiday.

The painting and printmaking centers will open this week.  I can't wait to see the creativity the students bring to these new centers.

Welcome! Bienvenido!

Welcome to the 2013-2014 school year!

We are off to a great start in the GWMS Art Studio.  The students have been introduced to the drawing center and have completed a warm-up project.  We did a scribble design and they had to find shapes and/or images to highlight.  The following day they decorated the covers of their sketchbooks utilizing all of the various material in the drawing center.

George Washington Middle School

I am so excited to start this school year at George Washington Middle School.  I will be teaching art for grades  6, 7 and 8 following the Teaching for Artistic Behavior (TAB) pedagogy.  To learn more about TAB, click here.

The classroom set-up is coming along.  Just a few more days before school begins!

I teach with the Teaching for Artistic Behavior (TAB) philosophy which encourages 21^st century skills.  Along with creativity and problem solving skills, TAB emphasizes life and career skills.  This method allows  for flexibility as students come to class with their ideas, interact with varied resources in the art studio and discover new things everyday.  Students learn about initiative and self-direction because the students are responsible for coming to class with a plan, setting up their own materials, engaging in art making, and cleaning up their materials at the end of class.  Social and cross-cultural skills are exhibited as students work with friends and classmates.  They can collaborate or work side-by-side.  They will learn to negotiate, as they share materials.  Peers can teach each other.  Students will learn how to discuss their artwork with classmates.  Productivity and accountability are important in the art studio.  Learners will show what they know as they work independently or with a peer in the art studio.  They will be held accountable for their progress during their seven week art rotation.  Students will grow as they take on more leadership and responsibility.  As the teacher, I design the learning environment and the students are responsible for maintaining it.  Those that show proficiency with a material will be asked to share their knowledge with peers.  Students will also have opportunities to help with setting up new studio centers, assisting with organization and curating for art shows.

Learning skills adapted from Teaching for Artistic Behavior (http://teachingforartisticbehavior.org/why-tab/21st-century-skills)